ST Pretoria 402 Parasite
by A wee Moose
Summary: Starship Ojibwa's crew has been replaced by Trite Parasites


Stardate 61780 (set 3 weeks after "Hunter's Dawn")  
  
Two days ago NCC 77909 - USS Ojibwa, Nova class starship  
  
The senior crew assembled in a Conference hall, waiting impatiantly to find out why an emergency section was called at midnight. The Captain,  
an older Vellorian woman with long, flowing black-green hair, growled through her teeth in undue anger. "Why are we here ?"  
  
"Sorry sir. But our cargo suddenly started to come alive." a young Andorian apologized. "We thought it must be brought to your attention."  
  
An older scienist, a Caitian male pressed a few buttons on a keyboard lying on his lap. A rotating hologram appeared into the middle of the large room. It displayed a blue liquid substance, suspended within a containment field. The substance moved independently, large fist-sized bumps forming on its surface momentarily, before sinking once again.  
  
He pointed it, "That thing was discovered nine days ago on New Betazed,  
when a miner came across it during an excavation of a natural water spring. It was immediately isolated, and brought it back to the city for further study. Two days ago, we picked it up at their request. Our initial tests conclude that it is a single celled organism, capable of free independent movement, which might suggest some form of intelligence."  
  
"But may also suggest that it moves simply through chemical changes in the air, or involuntary spasm, what have you," Lt. Adam Malkovish made a moving on gesture with his hand.  
  
"Spare us the speculation doctor. I am tired and very cranky." the Captain warned them all. "Focus on the facts." Everyone knew how unwise it was, to anger her.  
  
The doctor cleared his throat and continued. "Through various tests we have also noted that the creature is able to absorb matter and energy,  
and grows by absorbing."  
  
Malkovish turned his back to the assembled officers to yawn. "As far as we know there are only one of them on the planet. More, and we would have likely would have detected them by now. So what are our options?  
Lets review."  
  
He faced the group again. "Our first option is our most likely candidate, and was suggested by you, Commander Tayva. Further isolation and study of the creature so we may determine its origin and learn further of its absorption properties."  
  
A female scienist, Lt. Laiediya addressed the room, "Our second option,  
that we drop this thing off at the nearest starbase."  
  
"I personally think it would be in all of our best interest to kill the thing." Ensign Einsak remarked.  
  
One of the scienists nodded. "I am inclined to agree with that proposal. The lifeform is not hostile, nor a very dangerous threat."  
  
"Perhaps transportation is not the answer," Another scienist added.  
"What if we could simply continue research on the creature here ?"  
  
The table erupted into sustained conversation. Malkovish allowed the verbal exchange to wage on for a few minutes before raising his hands to shoulder level. "I get the distinct impression that we are even when it comes to those who wish to keep the creature here, or destroy it. I have a compromise."  
  
The table became silent, and all eyes focused on Malkovish. "I say we continue with what research we can, and then when such a time comes when we no longer have the necessary tools to further the research, we terminate the subject for risk of contamination? The scienists shall have five days to fulfill what research they can on the subject, before it is put into the proverbial frying pan. Is that acceptable for everyone?"  
  
There were nods of agreement from everyone around the table.  
  
"Good. Doing this will ensure we learn at least something about the creature. So, if that issue is solved, then this meeting is-"  
  
Before Malkovish could finish his thought, a warning klaxon began blaring inside the conference room. The men and women in the conference room leapt to their feet and began shouting frantically. "What the hell is going on!?" Malkovish shouted loudly.  
  
"Security to Captain. Contamination alert. Specimen isolation canister in science laboratory six, has been breeched." a Vulcan's voice calmly announced, oblivious to the chaos.  
  
"When ?" the captain demanded.  
"0027 hours. Last person to enter the room was Ensign Rika Ashley."  
"That's twelve minutes ago." the captain said, a tone of panic in her voice.  
  
Malkovish briskly marched over to a nearby computer console where he brought up a video link to the laboratory. Several bodies stiffly laid on the floor, their facial features displaying ghastly, pale expressions.  
  
Meanwhile .  
Crew quarters, Deck 4  
  
Aya Brea, a pale skinned, pale haired woman of North European descent headed to the shower. She turned to look at her selection of clothing,  
and immediately spotted an unfamiliar blue shirt. "What is this ?"  
  
Her eyes widened in horror as her hand passed through the blue material as if it were some form of semi-solid liquid. The liquid seemed to jump out at her, covering her entire left arm in it.  
  
She screamed and leapt back. The aqua blue coloured being began to expand around her body, running up the length of her arm, and covering her upper body, slithering down her legs like a liquid snake, and fully embracing them.  
  
In a panic, Aya fell to the ground, her lower body not responding to command. Her head thrashed wildly as the creature began to slowly envelop her entire head. She let out one ear-shattering scream before her entire head became covered, and her body became completely stiff.  
  
That is when the red alert klaxon went off.  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Jul 19 2003, 09:11 AM  
  
"Bored"  
  
Captain Rakurai Stryker - Ready Room  
  
"Captain's Log, Stardate 61780: The Pretoria is once assigned to Project Darkwater. We have been sent to locate a science vessel that went missing about two days ago. When the ship disappeared off of the Federation sensor grid, it was seen heading into a treacherous sector of space, commonly known as Hellguard. How we are supposed to find a single ship in an area plagued by massive and unpredictable ion storms is anyone's guess though. "  
  
"Computer, end log."  
  
He sat back. The artifical sound of the ocean waves playing in the background made him relax, but it also made him slightly homesick though.  
Khetrha  
  
Posted: Jul 20 2003, 11:22 PM  
  
Commander Khetrha - Isolated lounge  
  
The pain was becoming unbearable. That and the guilt of nearly dooming all those who had been counting on her were quickly wearing away her will to live. Yet, there was one thing she still had to do - a promise to those who chose to risk it all in order for others to live.  
  
She waited, gathering her strength, until she was able to rasp out,  
"Let...me...see it.... See...home...."  
  
Khetrha felt a couple Mahki lift her out of the chair and move her to an adjoining room with a large viewport. Once there, she tilted her head so she could see out the thick glass.  
  
What greeted her eyes was horror beyond belief. The night side of the planet was lit up by hundreds of blazing fires and the bright explosions of large bombs. And then, right before her eyes, the lit half of the planet exploded in a giant gray cloud, directly where they had only moments before lifted off from the ground. The cloud silently expanded, first covering the entire three-clan area, then covering a large section of the lit half of the planet. As it continued to expand,  
the fires on the night side intensified. Rivers of red and orange began to eke their way from the shadow of the cloud, across the terminus, and into the night side of the planet, where they joined with the fires in some kind of terrible river of molten rock and steam. The planet itself almost seemed to shudder, as if in its death throes.  
  
She groaned and closed her eyes, a new kind of pain overcoming her. And then, all was darkness...  
  
Khetrha slowly opened her eyes. They quickly adjusted to the dark lounge, the only light of which was coming from the stars whizzing by outside the expansive viewport. The memory of that fateful day had been just as vivid as ever, thanks to her frequent meditations on the subject.  
  
She sighed sadly, knowing duty was once again just around the corner.  
But she took some comfort from the small fact that she continued to keep her vow to those who had perished on the torn world of Rheschlar.  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Jul 21 2003, 02:10 PM  
  
'Friends'  
  
Alice Brangwin - Dot's Diner  
  
Sitting by the window, and sipping on a large glass of mango juice, she was chatting away with the bubbly Scottish girl, Samantha.  
  
"Look at those two." Alice said, turning her head toward Alva and Fox.  
"First they can't stand each other, fighting all day long, now they are in love ?"  
  
"You can't seem to keep their hands off of each other." Sammy giggled.  
  
"It was getting late." Alice yawned.  
"You want me to let you go ?" Sammy joked. "I don't think so."  
  
Alice got up, "Sorry. But I've been up since 4 since morning."  
Sammy hugged Alice, "Alright. See you tomorrow."  
  
"Yeah. Remember that defense class I am starting up ?"  
"The fighting thing ?" Sammy asked. "I will think about it."  
  
Alice broke the hug, "Good night, " she said heading to the door.  
  
"'Nite." Sammy waved, a little too energetically.  
cptoleary  
  
Posted: Jul 21 2003, 08:45 PM  
  
O'Leary sat in Dot's Diner staring out into space....  
  
He had deliberately set his aural implants to receive his communicator chatter only so that he could sit in silence, Think and write.  
It was something he didn't have to do, the captain would write his own letters of condolence but he felt that it was his duty as the crewmen were under his immediate command when it happened.  
  
Dear Mrs. Michaels You will have already received the letter telling you of the tragic news of your sons death. I just wanted to add to MY captains fine words Your son, Timothy, Was a crewman second class serving in engineering under my direct command. I was the Chief engineer and the Duty Engineer at the time.  
Your Son preformed way In excess of his expected duties during the incident that led to his death. I was proud to serve with him and his loss will be felt throughout the ship.  
If there is anything i can do for you or your family during this time of grieving please don't hesitate to ask  
  
Yours Lt. Commander Michael Timothy O'Leary Chief Engineer, USS Pretoria  
  
There, that was the last one he thought... He knew he didn't need to do it but the doctors and psychiatrist suggest that it might help as he sat staring out into space he switched his aural implant to receive music through the ships entertainment channels. He found a piece of music that he always particularly liked and sat staring into space....  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Jul 21 2003, 08:52 PM  
  
02:41 in the morning " Can't sleep "  
  
Alice Brangwin - Stryker's quarters  
  
Alice turned over in bed for what could have been the fifth time or the thousandth. She then rolled over and closed them again, waiting impatiently for sleep to claim her.  
  
Nothing. With an exasperated sigh, she sat up quickly on the bed with the thought of going to the replicator for water or warm milk or something.  
  
Her husband was nowhere to be seen. Stryker must have fallen asleep in the ready room again, she thought, walking towards the replicator.  
  
The room tumbled suddenly. She closed her eyes as the brightly lit digits of her alarm clock turned into a blur of motion. As the floor and all her surroundings tilted, she lost her grip on the corner of the bed and tipped over, clenching her teeth and holding back a cry of fright...  
  
Her eyes snapped open again with a sudden impact. She glanced quickly around, her breath coming in uneven little gasps. She was lying on her stomach on the floor, her knees drawn up, and gravity told her that her clock was in its rightful position on her nightstand.  
  
Maybe it's good that I'm getting water. I must be dehydrated. I'd only lost my balance I sat up so quickly, she told herself.  
  
She got up carefully, straighting her nightdress.  
  
That is then it happened. A vivid memory re-surfaced. The bridge's deck plates shifted violently underneath her feet. She saw fires, heard shouts, smelled blood and burning isolinear wire. A starship in distress.  
  
Alice stumbled forward, the doors automatically opened. She gave a cry as she collapsed into the empty hallway.  
Khetrha  
  
Posted: Jul 21 2003, 09:21 PM  
  
Corridor, Deck Two  
  
Khetrha, ready to go back on duty now, asked the computer to bring the lights up to full slowly as not to blind her. She moved over to the doors, and as soon as the lounge looked like normal, moved out into the corridor, feeling oddly refreshed and content. For the thousandth time,  
she wondered why she felt that way after meditating over such a traumatic event.  
  
As she neared the 'lift, she noticed the doors to someone's quarters open and what appeared to be something blocking them. She dug around in her memory a bit and realized those were Stryker's quarters. Curious,  
she jogged down to the room. Once close enough, she realized the "object" was actually Alice, lying in the doorway, preventing the doors from closing.  
  
Khetrha ran up to her.  
  
"Ma'am? Mrs. Brangwin? Alice?"  
  
She shook her gently, and when she didn't respond, Khetrha carefully (very carefully) checked for a pulse. It was there, all right, and she sighed with relief.  
  
Khetrha to Sickbay! I've found Alice unconscious near her quarters.  
I'm bringing her down now.  
  
Acknowledged.  
  
Slowly and gently, Khetrha lifted Alice off the ground and made her way to the 'lift. During the short journey to sickbay, she managed to activate her combadge with her chin: Khetrha to Stryker. Please report to sickbay.  
  
Once the 'lift stopped, she tore off down the corridor toward sickbay,  
eliciting startled remarks from crewmembers who just happened to be in her way.  
  
Starfleet really needs to make their hallways wider.  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Jul 21 2003, 09:39 PM  
  
" What's wrong ? "  
  
Rakurai Stryker - Ready Room  
  
Khetrha to Stryker. Please report to sickbay.  
  
He woke up with a start. "Why ?" he asked.  
  
"I found Alice semiconscious in the hallway." the Mahri first officer replied.  
  
ALICE !, he thought. In the background of the open comlink he heard the medical staff calling the CMO, Kiya to sickbay.  
  
He took off immediatly.  
targhviq  
  
Posted: Jul 22 2003, 11:33 AM  
  
The Devil's Hour  
  
CMO Black Wolf's Quarters 2:58 am, ship's time  
  
"CMO Black Wolf, emergency situation. Please report to Sickbay, STAT."  
  
Kiya rolled to a sitting position on the side of her bed, Demi's call still ringing in her ears from Sickbay. She hit her combadge with practiced precision despite the total lack of lighting, and the fuzz still strolling leisurely through her brain.  
  
"Black Wolf here. Demi, situation, please."  
  
Kiya jerked on a fresh uniform as the moment ticked on in an appaling duration of eternity. This tempted Kiya to call again, though she knew the eternity was merely the moment her wall chrono said it was. In a matter of one minute, Demi returned her call. That one full minute told Kiya that indeed Demi's hands were full. And Kiya was already on her way out of her quarters in a strident jog.  
  
"Doctor, Alice Brangwin has been brought in by Commander Khetrha. She found Alice semi concious in her quarter's doorway."  
  
"Vitals Demi, any sign of injury?"  
  
"None that are detectable, full scans on and nothing coming up except for elevated synapse activity. Chemically, her brain is flooded. Her blood gases are fine, breathing clear and normal, heartrate and BP slightly elevated. Temperature is slightly elevated but going down on it's own. She seems to be attempting to descend into coma which we are working on right now. Yes, she is fighting it, slight stability accomplished, but she could go any minute with her brain-chemical situation. Also, she seems to be experiencing a great deal of emotional distress with her semi-concious state. I am administering no sedative due to the coma risk at present."  
  
Kiya swung into a 'lift', a grim look on her face. She barked,  
"Sickbay, emergency overide, CMO Black Wolf priority one." The computer bleeped in response. The turbolift smoothly switched to a higher speed and the ship's systems temporarily rerouted and docked all non-emergency turbolifts to accomodate her passage. Kiya slapped her combadge again, "Acknowledged Demi. I am halfway there, keep her concious no matter what, call the Captain if he hasn't been already.  
And please aprise me should things change before I get there."  
  
"Acknowledged doctor, Demi out."  
  
Kiya leaned against the back wall, her arms crossed on her chest. She was vaguely familiar with Alice's history, her medical history being much more accesible to her than the actual events that lead to her present symptoms. Kiya had seen passing signs of Alice's inner demons,  
but nothing to confirm her medical fears until tonight.  
  
The TL's doors started to swish open and Kiya was already out of the turbolift before the doors were completely open. A passing crewman could have almost swore she walked through a solid door, but just shook his shift-weary head and walked on with a puzzled look on his face.  
  
Sickbay's doors began to open, and like the turbolift, Kiya was already in before they'd completely opened. She already had a medical tricorder out scanning Alice thourally, and was confering with her staff quietly and quickly, making her own notes as she went on her PADD. She placed her cool hand on Alice's head, she could feel the slight increase in the skin tempurature under her hand. 'Good, no cold sweats... yet.' she thought with silent gratitude to her Higher Powers.  
  
Demi hovered nearby, and the other medical crew dispersed to their related assignments quietly, allowing the two senior doctors to confer in peace.  
  
Demi leaned close so as to read Kiya's PADD, she stood up and spoke softly, "I see you have come to the same conclusions as I. She will need close monitoring in the next few hours."  
  
Kiya sighed, resigned. "And heavy therapy. Confound all war anyways. I hate this happened to Alice, she is too good to have to go through this."  
  
At that, Captain Stryker stalked into Sickbay, near anger and concern on his face. "Status Doctor!"  
  
Kiya barely touched his arm with her fingertips, then moved them away,  
nothing more needed to convey her intentions, than to say,  
  
"Come with me Captain, we have things to discuss privately."  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Jul 22 2003, 05:34 PM  
  
'Devastated'  
  
Rakurai Stryker - Sickbay  
  
His anxiety level went through the roof when Commander Khetrha told him that she found Alice semi-conscious. His instinct was stronger than reason, and he wanted to be by her side even if he had to fight a thousand soldiers to get to her.  
  
But he yielded to a tiny voice saying, there is nothing you can do right now. Last time I checked you have no medical experience.  
  
He hesistated for about six seconds, then followed Kiya into her circular office. The Chief Medical Officer's office was decorated with a medicine wheel and a dreamcatcher. It distracted him from his fear for hospitals and medical facilities. Uh, how he hates these places.  
  
Not to mention that Kiya demanded his immediate attention. Through the chaos in sickbay, he did hear the word, 'coma' though. His fought to gain clarity of his thoughts and somehow managed it, barely.  
  
He could not say the words, he instead waited for Kiya to speak. She pressed a button on her console which caused the glass door to slide shut.  
Khetrha  
  
Posted: Jul 22 2003, 08:42 PM  
  
Khetrha waited in sickbay, standing aloof and away from the doctors working feverishly around Alice. It was the only occupied biobed, she noticed, glancing around the room before her eyes came to rest once again on the small knot of people at the far wall. Although her hearing wasn't the greatest, it wasn't difficult to listen in on the doctors'  
and nurses' conversations, and none of it sounded good.  
  
Khetrha fidgeted. She wanted nothing more than to stride out of sickbay as fast as possible, but duty made her stay. She would remain there,  
just in case anyone wanted to ask her any more questions.  
  
She had glanced at the doors, expecting Stryker to come in, when Kiya whooshed in, startling Khetrha, making her almost leap out of her skin.  
The doctor was then immediately at Alice's side, barking orders.  
  
Khetrha barely had time to calm down when Stryker suddenly exploded into the room. She cringed against the wall a little, not wanting to get in the captain's way - especially when his wife was the one on the examination table....  
  
Shortly thereafter, Kiya and Stryker went to her office to talk.  
Khetrha really didn't feel like sticking around anymore, and as soon as the doors began to shut, she slowly made her way to the exit, wondering what was wrong and hoping no one would notice her exit...  
targhviq  
  
Posted: Jul 22 2003, 11:28 PM  
  
"Confound all wars anyways."  
  
Sickbay, CMO Black Wolf's Office 3:20 am, Ship's Time  
  
Kiya looked steadily at Captain Stryker, allowing him the moment to absorb himself in some of the talisman's and charms decorating her walls. On the wall behind him was the largest mandella she owned, it's maroon, natural browns and deep forest greens reminding her of home and the greener places she dearly missed. That was the one that often brought her the most comfort in times of stress. As yet, his probing eyes had not found it.  
  
Presently he focused on her, his yellow Edenian eyes piercing hers with intensity. She leaned foreward, settling her elbows on her desk, and returned an equally intense gaze.  
  
"Captain, Alice is fighting a coma. The cause is theory at the moment,  
but I believe we have found an injury to her brain, very hard to find on our preliminary scans, but found. She's scoring a GCS of 11, not bad at all, but not where I want her to be. I've already ordered 4-hour awareness and response tests, and daily applications of Sertraline on a moderate dose to help with her condition."  
  
"In Federation Standard doctor. And what 'condition' does my wife have?" His eyes were blazing plasma hot.  
  
"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Possibly severe. You will have to tell me if you have noticed any adverse emotional situations she's been having since The Incident."  
  
Captain Stryker's eyebrow quirked at the last comment, "Like?"  
  
"Has Alice had any difficulty sleeping, outbursts of anger or irritability, or difficulty concentrating. Staying on guard for no apparant reason. She'd possibly be having constant fear for her safety,  
or becoming unduly startled when she is suddenly surprised." Kiya sat back and sighed before continuing, "And I especially need to know if she's been feeling any intense guilt for her survival. I felt you would know this more intimately than any of us."  
  
Captain Stryker said nothing. His body was rigid with stress. He slowly sat back in his chair, his expression changing little. Kiya could swear he was going to pass out if he didn't breathe pretty soon. She also knew he was not going to willingly tip his hand to her if he indeed had a hand to tip.  
  
To her relief, he eventually gusted out a slow sigh. But stubbornly said nothing.  
  
Kiya looked across the room at the mandella hanging behind him. She nodded at it with her head. "Look there behind you."  
  
Stryker all but lept from his green skin, but composed himself to turn and look, turning his body but not removing his eyes from hers. After several moments, he looked behind him, the beautiful mandella finally finding his searing gaze. Something within him softened slightly. Kiya noted his body releasing the tension slightly. Seeing this, she assumed the mandella was having a similar effect on him that it often had on her.  
  
"Captain, do you know what that object means?"  
  
"No." he stated simply.  
  
"Likewise I cannot know what all Alice has been going through if you do not tell me. It's meaning is as locked from me as that mandella's is from you at this moment. If you want me to help her, you must now help me."  
  
The Captain looked away. Inwardly, he assessed that most of the objects in Kiya's office must have some great meaning to her or they wouldn't be wasting good Starfleet-issued wallspace. He slowly turned to face her, then rose to his feet.  
  
"Doctor, my wife has had all that you have named. As for the last symptom, she has been lately expressing those feelings to me." He turned to look at the mandella once more, "But she must never know I have told you of that. She had me vow never to reveal it to anyone." He turned to look her straight in the eye. "Never reveal it to her."  
  
Kiya nodded once, her face set and grim. "Captain, she is treading very thin ice emotionally. I will never reveal anything I've learned from you to her. But she will want to know why I am having to treat her for some things. And you must report any increase in those last symptoms to me directly and immediatly. I do not want another suicide on my watch ever again. and I will not stand for Alice succumbing to that line of thinking in the here and now. However Captain, you must agree to immediatly give me more information when requested in the future, or you may be endangering her far more than her PTSD or the coma ever will. Do I make myself clear, Sir?"  
  
The Captain spun around on his heels with rigid anger in his eyes, it neatly matched the anger in the CMO's dark brown eyes. They stared as equals for moments before Stryker finally relaxed. He knew she was right, dissembling information had cost many lives before, in many other places and times. He was not willing to gamble his wife's life to retain her privacy. Though it may make homelife a little less easy once she was back home in their quarters. 'A pain I could manage.' he thought to himself.  
  
"Doctor, I will be sending you some further information shortly." He then looked at Kiya with a softer look in his eyes, "And I thank you Kiya. You have done much."  
  
Kiya slowly nodded as he swept from her office to look in on Alice. How could she prevent him? 'Protocols be fragged.' she thought to herself,  
If that was me on that biobed, my husband had better fight to see me or forget about coming home for his coffee and cornflakes!'  
targhviq  
  
Posted: Jul 23 2003, 03:00 PM  
  
Kiya returned to her desk, the air still moving from Captain Stryker's exit, and sat down in her chair. The time had come for a little expert help.  
  
She began coding the urgent message to an old aquaintance of hers, and hoped she might be able to respond quickly, for Alice's sake above all else.  
  
'To: Lt. JG Karen Coleridge, MD, Assistant Medical Officer USS Exeter, NCC-1939-A.  
  
Greetings Karen, I appologise for the total lack of preliminaries, but time is precious and I need to ask a favor.  
  
Encoded below please find the medical data on my newest Patient, Alice Brangwin. As you will see in her charts, there is a problem. Please get back to me on this one as soon as you are able to. I'll be needing to confer with you throughout her recovery, and I know of no one better able to handle this type of condition than you.  
  
==Medical Document Enclosed:  
"Patient Charting, Alice Brangwin"  
  
All my best regards,  
CMO Kiya Black Wolf USS Pretoria NCC 84361'  
  
Kiya thumb-signed the message and sent it priority-coded to the Exeter.  
She sighed deeply. If Alice was going into this kind of battle, she wasn't going to do it alone. Kiya was going to bring in top reinforcements for both of them.  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Jul 23 2003, 03:06 PM  
  
' Anxiety, concern and love '  
  
Captain Rakurai Stryker - Sickbay  
  
Demi stood on the other side of the bio-bed while he remained motionless at Alice's side. He brushed her warm cheek with one hand, an intimate show of affection. She responded by slightly turning her head towards his hand, her lifesigns also changed.  
  
He held her hand in his. "Kawaii," he whispered. Sweetheart. He sat silently at her side for forty minutes. When there was no more change,  
he returned to Kiya's office.  
  
He braced himself, and tell her what you knew.  
  
"Her behaviour has been normal. She really hated Councilor Isis for trying to get her to speak about the loss of her friends when the USS Exeter was destroyed. She lost alot of friends." he thought for a bit.  
"She seemed alright, cried alot for ten days, then more of less picked herself up. It seemed she mourned enough, even for a loss at personal as that."  
  
"She's been upset about something since she arrived." Kiya noted.  
  
He stared out through the glass wall at his beloved wife. "Yes.  
Standard Starfleet orders are a mandatory 6 month shoreleave following the treaumatic loss of a starship or starbase. She hates sitting around with nothing to do."  
  
They sat in brief silence, Stryker turned back to Kiya, "Doctor, I obviously won't be able to sleep tonite. Can I take up the bed next to her ?" he pleaded.  
targhviq  
  
Posted: Jul 25 2003, 10:45 AM  
  
The Golden Hour Sickbay - CMO Black Wolf's Office The Wee Hours  
  
"Doctor, I obviously won't be able to sleep tonite. Can I take up the bed next to her ?" he pleaded.  
  
Kiya nodded. She knew he wasn't not going to leave Alice, and he had every right to remain with her. As long as it positively did not interfere with her treatment and recovery.  
  
"Alright Captain, you may remain. She will need rest and my team and I will make certain all is being done to help her."  
  
She rose with an audible pop to her knees, a sign she'd been on her feet too long in a 24-hour period. She frowned and said nothing for a moment while the discomfort subsided. When the pain relaxed, she sighed and looked into his eyes, still all too intent and wired for her liking.  
  
"Captain, the only condition I ask is you do try to sleep. It will make things easier on my people to do their jobs with Alice. There are scheduled times that testing and treatment will need to happen. At those times, we will need her not reacting to anything but our stimulus and tests. This is very tricky and I am not entirely certain what we are dealing with is a simple coma. What I do need is the records, both from the vessel she was on at the time of the accident, and any investigative records post her accident. I have gotten some records,  
but not enough to get all I need."  
  
Before he could answer, she shifted her hip to the desktop. Her knees were on fire and it was not very easy to stand, even propped up on her desk.  
  
"Captain, I will tell you this, I have detected some brain damage not consistant with coma, stroke or anything natural. There are trace injuries that suggest she's gotten some damage due to some type of psycogenic drugs, I won't be sure untill I can isolate the exact drug."  
Kiya stared at him with a level gaze. "I need to know what she was exposed to. I need to know when that exposure happened. And I need to know why, simply because something here is not stacking up right, and I feel that whatever I don't have is key to understanding why she seems to also have PTSD. Not all of her symptoms are completely consistant with typical PTSD symptoms or coma."  
  
Captain Stryker started to answer her but was cut off by an answering priority message to Kiya. She punched up the buttons on her console needed to receive. The Starfleet Cadeuseus logo faded to be replaced by the face of her old aquaintance, Lt. JG Karen Coleridge MD of the Exeter.  
  
"Kiya, nice to see you again. I thought this warranted a more personal response."  
  
"Good to see you too Karen. And thank you for responding so soon."  
  
Karen nodded and continued, "I have spoken to Lt. Mahrris of the USS Pasteur about your patient. He is the best in my opinion on these types of cases. He's looking over Alice's charts and is coming up with some interesting ideas. But I must tell you, he is unsure that what is wrong is a coma or PTSD, at least not directly."  
  
"I appreciate that, and Dr. Mahrris seems to have gotten the same ideas as I have recently. What I lack is background information on some things." Kiya glanced quickly at Captain Stryker, then back to Karen,  
"But I am working on rooting up some more data. Things haven't been making much sense with her case on this end either."  
  
"Kiya, Dr. Mahrris will be contacting you very shortly. He's got his own questions he wants to go over with you. As well as Alice's latest charting, as up to the last second as possible, all the way back to what may have caused her injuries in the begining."  
  
Kiya looked down a minute then back at Karen. "Alright. That will be done. I'll be looking foreward to speaking to him again, it's been many a year since we last bumped heads over a patient." Kiya smiled, but the tiredness in her face drew the smile down into a sad moue that was more morose than happy. "Karen, thank you. I do appreciate this."  
  
"Always glad to help Kiya. Keep me informed?"  
  
"Sure, no problem."  
  
"Good luck, Coleridge out."  
  
The image faded and Kiya looked up at Captain Stryker from hunched shoulders. She was tired and she was waiting for Stryker to figure out they all needed all the info they could gather. Inwardly, she mused that if he was so unable to sleep tonight, perhaps he could get those records transfers going, so she and Dr. Mahrris both could get busy faster for Alice. There was alot of homework to be done. And even Demi,  
with her vast lexicon of medical knowledge, was stumped by some of Alice's symptoms and the types of damage they were now finding. They needed facts and fast!  
  
"Captain, please excuse me. But I either need you to go on to sleep over there, or get me the data we need for Alice. Personally, I would prefer the data. The sooner we get that, the sooner we get Alice fully diagnosed and treated. I hate bobbling in the middle-back with a patient in the sling. And Alice's 'golden hour' is fading. Can you help us please?"  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Jul 25 2003, 11:58 AM  
  
' Personal demons '  
  
Captain Rakurai Stryker - Kiya's office  
  
He nodded in urgency. "May I use your terminal ?"  
  
The Apache nodded and slowly walked out of her office. Stryker was too pre-occupied to notice as he immediately slipped into her chair, the computer terminal in front of him.  
  
"Computer. Recognize Stryker, Rakurai."  
  
"Voiceprint analysis verified for this workstation."  
  
"Computer. Open the medical files on the Aurora incident,  
Authorization, Rakurai, Four candles, four bells, Alpha 710."  
  
"Security clearance level nine accepted."  
  
He sighed. This wasn't going to be easy for him to look at again. It was a "skeleton-in-the-closet" that was to be locked away forever, or so he hoped.  
  
The information started to load, Stryker knew it was a huge file. He exited the office and walked up to the EMH. "Demi, the files Kiya requested is being transferred now. We'd need your … expertise to sift through it."  
  
She paused for a second looking through the preliminary information (one of the advantages being connected to every sub-system in sickbay,  
"You were there too." she said.  
  
"Yes." Stryker admitted. "And I have a favor to ask. I don't want to leave her side, Kiya said I can take up the biobed next to her. I want you to give me a sedative."  
  
She smiled warmly. "You lay down on that bed, and I'll see you in the morning."  
  
He did as the EMH said, when she returned to stuck a hypo in his neck.  
Stryker passed out immediately.  
  
"Gotcha Captain." Demi grinned, as she extracted a blood sample, since he and Alice were exposed to the same chemicals.  
Khetrha  
  
Posted: Jul 27 2003, 12:40 PM  
  
Khethra - Just outside Sickbay  
  
To her relief, Khetrha managed to slip out of sickbay seemingly unnoticed. Yet, even when she was out of the place, she paused just outside the doors in thought. What would cause a person to suddenly go into a near-comatose state like that? she thought. Then there's the deal with Stryker and Black Wolf speaking privately in her office. Of course, she could just be informing him what's going on, but if it were merely a trivial thing, they wouldn't've had to speak in confidence.  
Khetrha glanced back at the Sickbay doors, concern slowly sketching its way across her face - and it wasn't just for Alice.  
  
She huffed once, turning on one foot and heading for the nearest 'lift.  
The effects of her earlier meditation had all but vanished, and now the omnipresent weariness came over her once again. Like usual, she had only slept a few hours that night - it continued to be unbearably difficult to sleep on this ship. She was on duty during ship's "day,"  
but when "night" finally came around, her instincts kept her awake.  
Night is the time of activity, not sleep, her mind always said.  
  
Khetrha rubbed her forehead while she waited for a 'lift to stop by.  
The headaches were coming with alarming frequency nowadays. She had a feeling it was caused by running around in the daytime these last few years. She thought her body would get used to the change, but it was becoming increasingly apparent that abandoning her nocturnal life for a few years was damaging her health.  
  
I wonder if we brought any of those day-glasses with us on the Lhumh-Khet. Now why didn't I think of that earlier? She made a mental note to contact the ship after her shift was over. Maybe that will get rid of these dratted headaches, she thought as she stepped onto the 'lift and headed toward the bridge, forcing herself to ignore the warning signs she didn't want to accept.  
  
We need to find that ship...  
targhviq  
  
Posted: Jul 28 2003, 12:07 AM  
  
Sickbay Early Morning  
  
Kiya rose from her desk, Captain Stryker's clearly high-level reports of his and Alice's incident together still burning into her mind. She stood there, hovering over the console, just trying to absorb the info through a too-tired mind.  
  
Kiya walked away, wishing she could just go on to her quarters and rest for an hour or two, but there was no time for that. She found herself standing infront of her office's replicator rubbing her face madly,  
trying to scrub away the eeck of exhaustion creeping in at all her corners. Sometimes, especially like tonight, there is no days and nights, just the constant effort to unravel the impossible and seek a cure.  
  
'Today, you mean Kiya. It's Today already. Just grab your coffee and get back to work.' she chided herself.  
  
"Coffee, double strong, double cream, 24 ounces, terran standard, hot."  
  
The hot, steaming liquid swirled into existance in the replicator bay.  
Kiya just stared at it for a moment. It's not that she didn't want it.  
She was lost in deep thought and in truth, didn't even see the coffee infront of her until Demi walked into her office and spoke, breaking her line of thoughts in a crash of momentary confusion.  
  
"...Kiya... Kiya? Didn't you hear me?" Demi walked over to her and put her hand on Kiya's shoulder.  
  
"What? Oh!" Kiya jumped startled, then slumped at the shoulders and sighed in tired relief, "Demi, god, you just made me grow a thousand new grey hairs!  
  
Demi smiled and looked at Kiya's head from all sides with a mock appraising eye.  
  
"Well, maybe only a few hundred this time. Are you alright? You look really tired. And I see you're equiped with the industrial-size serving of coffee this morning." Demi poked her in the elbow, "What? I don't pickle you enough with my coffee every morning?" She winked at her and walked over to the consultation area to wait on Kiya. She sat daintily in a cozy chair and and waited with an expectant look.  
  
Kiya blinked at Demi with a lost expression, then suddenly shook it off, grabbed the large cup of coffee and joined Demi on the nearby couch. Demi chuckled softly when Kiya slung her legs up, stretching to her full length on the couch, then realised this was a physically impossible position to drink her coffee from.  
  
"I need a very proffessional view here with Alice, Demi." Kiya said as she swung slowly back up, trying not to spill coffee on herself in the maneuvering. "I have probably more answers now than I can physically proccess at this time."  
  
"The report from the Aurora?"  
  
"Yes." Kiya nested herself more comfortably on the couch and continued.  
"I have at least 4 triggers for her possible PTSD, and I'm not sure all her symptoms are from that. This is definately not coma in the tradiitonal sense of the word, and at least 4 possible causes for that.  
Frankly, in my tired frame of mind, not all I have is stacking up. Have you come up with anything from those files?"  
  
Kiya sipped her coffee and grimaced the face of the overly-tired trying to proccess coffee and facts at the same time.  
  
"Well, I have the same info you have summed up so well. Not all her 'conditions' are what they seem. I would say it's possible the drug exposure could have set up a sort of "kindling" effect in Alice's brain, that could be leaving her predisposed to seizure activity. Also,  
it's possible that the obtundation itself is the result of a non-focal seizure. I'd recommend we try anti-seizure medication, go from there.  
Remove her from the sertraline as a safety."  
  
Kiya nodded as she tried to swallow the hot liquid and speak at the same time. "That's the same diagnosis and course of treatment I had pieced out also, well mostly." She rubbed her face in aggrivation, "As tired as I am, I missed some of what you mentioned, but I see no other answer."  
  
"I've also noted Alice's glutamate levels are high." Kiya yawned without meaning to. "And we have to regulate that now or she will have damage from her neurons firing wildly as well. There's evidence of several small incidences of brain insults, I'm not even sure if it's not an ischemic problem right now. There are clear signs of PTSD, but not all of those are consistant. There's got to be more goin' on here than just that. But her brain is reacting consistant with the biochemical activity associated with PTSD, so it's still difficult to be sure what all is contributive here." Kiya sipped again, but more slowly than before, catching Demi's eye.  
  
Demi nodded, watching Kiya sort this out under pressure and in a very exhausted state. Many other doctors would have given up by now for a non-interrupted session with a soft bed somewhere. Demi thought, 'This is why I like her so, she just never gives up! Dogged to the end.'  
  
"Kiya, I do beleive I must make a recommendation for plenty of bedrest and some possible mild sedative for just the night." She smiled,  
waiting.  
  
"What?!" Kiya's weary-ringed eyes popped open, making the bags under them look like she was peering out from between overstuffed pillows.  
"That's not going to do her any good! We have a very serious situa..."  
Kiya stopped blowing up long enough to realise Demi had meant Kiya was the one she'd prescibed bedrest for.  
  
"Gotcha Doc." Demi whispered knowlingly.  
  
Kiya smiled a cockeyed grin that looked absolutely ghastly at the moment. "Alright, alright, I get the message, Demi." She rose creaking audibly in the knees, and tried not to wince before Demi's very observant gaze. "I will sign myself off some sedative and go sleep for a little."  
  
"Nope, afraid not doctor, I know you a little too well." Demi cocked an equally impish grin and produced an ampule and hypo ready for Kiya's trick reply. "I've already signed you off one dosage, and will administer it myself to make sure you actually do get the stuff this time. Last time you told me the same thing and..."  
  
"Yes, I know. I ran like a scared bunny. I just don't like taking sedatives!"  
  
"Well, this time you are, and this one will not last beyond 8 hours, so you will be up to your regular self without any unpleasant side effects. Not that hearing your excuses are are any better than the worst side effects I ever heard before." Demi had a wickedly impish grin plastered across her face. And Kiya, for once, could not utter a sound from her silently working mouth.  
  
Demi stood and hypoed Kiya neatly in the arm and stepped away to the door, pausing only to turn around to warn her. "If I were you Doctor, I wouldn't dally, this stuff may only take up eight of your busy hours.  
But it works fast enough to put a Klingon barracks down in about 5 minutes." And she winked and whipped out of Kiya's office all too smoothly.  
  
"You little brat." Kiya smirked, "You planned this ahead! Well, I guess we... can...." Kiya yawned mightily, "we can.. continue this.  
tomorrow....."  
  
And she promptly plopped sideways into the all too soft couch and began to snore softly, the coffee puddled untidily at her feet.  
  
In Sickbay, Demi peered from around the corner, "Nighty-nite Kiya, I'll tuck you in later, after I run a few preliminary tests on Alice." She smiled and was off to begin Alice's tests and documantation. Though Kiya had finally figured out most of Alice's brain injuries, she was still too tired to catch all the warning signs of other, more subtle issues. Demi was well ahead of Kiya by now and was planning on a long night working with Alice.  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Jul 28 2003, 05:06 PM  
  
' Romance '  
  
0715 hours  
  
Ensign Fox Xanatos - Bridge  
  
Ensign Fox Xanatos was sitting at OPS. Lt. Thomas Black Wolf was in command of the bridge in the absense of Lt.Cmdr O'Leary, Commander Khetrha and Captain Stryker. Lt.Cmdr O'Leary was supposed to be here at 0700 hours, but Tiko figured he would wait another 15 minutes before paging him.  
  
But all Fox could think of is, Ensign Alva. The Betazoid woman blushed everytime his thoughts wondered to the private time they'd been spending together over the last couple of weeks.  
  
The Pretoria has been searching this treacherous sector of space,  
commonly known as Hellguard for one small ship, the Ojibwa.  
  
The crest of an ion storm or plasma string would slightly rock the ship every few minutes. And due to the extreme subspace density, the ship could only manage one third impulse speed, or for short bursts, one half.  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Jul 28 2003, 05:09 PM  
  
' Your Warmth '  
  
0722 hours  
  
Captain Rakurai Stryker - Sickbay  
  
He awoke slowly. Two nurses, an Andorian woman and an older Banjii man was consulting with Demi. Most of the medical terminology they used was lost on him. Kiya was nowhere to be seen, so he assumed she when to her quarters for a little rest.  
  
He got up and looked at the monitor behind Alice's biobed, the only thing you could figure out from that, was that her heart is racing, 93 beats per minute.  
  
He looked at her beautiful face. Alice's forehead was shining with cold sweat, and her eyes were squeezed shut, but tears seeped out from under the tightly shut eyelids. "DEMI" he said louder than he meant, but it grabbed her attention. She walked over in a hurry, the two nurses in tow.  
cptoleary  
  
Posted: Jul 28 2003, 10:04 PM  
  
O'Leary ran onto the Bridge almost, knocking over a Crewman that was in his way. He apologized and regained his composure. He walked to the command chair and gave the Lt his apologies and relieved him.  
  
He began his usual quick run down of the ships status and he noticed that the ship could only run at 1/3 impulse. He looked over at Ensign Fox who appeared to be in his own little world... after the third time he called for him the ensign responded, with a somewhat embarrassed look on his face.  
  
"Yes sir...." Ensign Fox responded.  
  
"Ensign, try increasing the power to the forward navigational deflectors.... that may help the impulse generators give us a little more thrust."  
  
Fox looked at his readouts, "Aye sir... increasing approximately 10%  
power gives us an increase of .05 impulse."  
  
"Well it's not much but at least its something. Put the tactical image up on the view screen. Overlay the Ojibwa projected course based on the nebula eddies...  
  
The image on the screen was replaced with a 3d wire frame representation of their course... with a thin blue line showing the computer's projected path of the Ojibwa....  
  
"Good now keep us following that blue line..."  
  
O'Leary sank back down into the captains chair and began to wait.  
nothing now but to wait for them to find the ship or, as more often happens, for trouble to find them!  
Khetrha  
  
Posted: Jul 28 2003, 10:19 PM  
  
Khetrha - Stellar Cartography  
  
Though physically, she was in Stellar Cartography mapping the nebulous region they were in, mentally, Khetrha was somewhere else. Nothing interesting had cropped up on sensors in at least two hours, making the room oddly silent, save the omnipresent beeps and clicks associated with crewmen busy at their consoles. The Mahki figured she needed to be there for some kind of support, even though it wasn't necessary - the crew could probably map the area in their sleep by now - so she had remained...  
  
...but she hadn't moved from her at-attention position in the middle of the room for the duration of those uneventful two hours, and it was unnerving the crew.  
  
"Has she even blinked in the past few hours?" an ensign whispered to a science officer behind him.  
  
"What, have you been staring at her the whole time?" the woman asked,  
incredulous. When the ensign didn't respond, she continued, "I wouldn't stare at her if I were you. You know what they say happens to people who stare at her..."  
  
The ensign went white as stars streaking by a viewport and gulped.  
"Uh...no... What - What d-do they say...?"  
  
The science officer shrugged innocently and turned to face her console again. "Oh, nothing..."  
  
The ensign swallowed hard, his palms suddenly sweaty and clammy as he turned back to his sensor readings.  
  
Through the dim fog of her reverie, Khetrha heard whispers, but remained silent, figuring important information - if there was any -  
would be said loud enough for her to hear it.  
  
About 15 minutes later, the ensign spoke up. "Uh, s-sir... I'm reading an...an unusually dense c-c-clump of dark matter about 5,000 km off our starboard bow."  
  
Khetrha waited a few seconds, and just as the ensign was about to repeat his findings, she nodded and tapped her communicator.  
Khetrha to Bridge. Sensors have picked up an unusual clump of dense dark matter off our starboard bow. I suggest we slow down and take a look at it. If we scan it too quickly, we may miss something.  
  
No problem! Oleary said, the boredom quickly leaving his oddly-accented voice.  
  
Khetrha quirked an ear at Oleary's jolly voice, then all was silent once again.  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Jul 30 2003, 04:30 PM  
  
' Tracking down '  
  
Ensign Fox Xanatos - Bridge  
  
"I see it." he said from the science/OPS console. "I am also picking something else."  
  
"... Something else ?" O'Leary inquired.  
  
Fox tapped away at his console. "Its a sensor ghost of a ship."  
  
"Where is the real one then Ensign ?"  
  
"Tracking ... Gotcha! Bearing 51, mark 273."  
  
"Distance ?"  
  
"62,200 kilometers sir."  
  
"Confirmed." Ensign Kitty Pryde said from Stellar Cartography.  
"Duranium detected. Its our missing ship."  
  
"ETA ?" O'Leary asked the helmsman.  
  
"55 minutes if we're lucky sir. There is a massive class eight ion storm between us and that ship. We have to go around it."  
  
"Change course, best speed to the Ojibwa. ENGAGE."  
targhviq  
  
Posted: Jul 31 2003, 06:12 PM  
  
"Awakenings"  
Sickbay, Morning  
  
Demi looked up, along with the Andorian and Banjii nurses, as Stryker was yelling for them. A couple of other patients on other biobeds began to crane their necks trying to see what the disturbance was about.  
  
Demi got to the scene first, followed by the two nurses. She put her hand on Stryker's arm and directed him back towards his biobed.  
  
"Captain, please seat yourself here, we must have room to work with Alice now." Demi looked at Captain Stryker with a gentle look, but underlying that was the no-nonsense look of the professional doctor redirecting an overwrought spouse out of the way.  
  
"Demi, what is wrong with my wife!"  
  
She just looked at him. "Captain, you are detaining me from doing my job with Alice. Please do not force me to sedate you. The last thing Alice needs in her condition is undue excitement." she waved her hand back towards his biobed, "Please. I will consult with you as soon as we have her stable."  
  
Before he could respond, she had gone away to help her nurses with the operations of stabilization and analysis.  
  
"Liata, please run a Bi-spectral analysis, and Blerik? Please get her hyperencephalogram going, I need to see what's going on in there." Demi grabbed up some equipment, hailing another medtech to help with Alice's infusion port. "Run her a standard SSRI complex imediatly. We'll go from there."  
  
Captain Stryker watched as the team worked with Alice. And much to his relief, began to see her calm down as the medications began to have their effects, small though they were.  
  
Demi counselled quietly with her team as the results of all their testing began to come in. Soon, but not soon enough for Stryker, Demi relaxed and came towards him with a report he wasn't sure he wanted to hear.  
  
"Captain..."  
  
"Demi, my appologies. I had no right to interfere or yell." His eyes were intense with worry, "I need to know what is going on, how she is."  
And this last part was most difficult for him to say, "And what she will be going through."  
  
Demi looked at Captain Stryker, waiting upon the emotions that had been running rampant to settle down some. When she spoke, it was with utmost tenderness.  
  
"Captain, we need to talk, what I need to know is if Alice has had any symptoms you have been able to notice. Small perhaps, but they are important."  
  
"Alright Demi, what should I be looking for?"  
  
Demi began to list the symptoms, so very many of them were things he had noted, but passed off. So many were things he himself had seen in himself. But he refused to tip his hand at this time. Right now his main worry was Alice, not himself.  
  
"Captain, all she need have is just four of any of those symptoms for me to diagnose. Has she been having troubles with any of that?"  
  
Captain Stryker nodded slowly, not saying a word just yet. When he did speak, it was very quietly. "Demi, what is going on with my wife? What is your diagnosis?"  
  
"Captain, it was a panic attack. She has a many layered problem. Some of it is from physical injury to her brain during your mutual incidents. Some of it is from the drugs that were introduced to both of you at that time." She paused to look at him before she spoke, "You do understand Captain, that you are at risk for many of the same things we are dealing with in Alice's case. We will be needing to test you as well Sir. It is for your safety and that of the ship."  
  
Captain Stryker looked away. His mind a blurr of memories he did not want to re-live, even if only in his memory.  
  
"Demi, I will contact you and Kiya about that in due course. Right now my worries are Alice and this ship."  
  
He gazed up at her with a strange look in his eyes. One that she was not able to read, one she knew Kiya most likely could... if only she were not still sedated in her office.  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Aug 1 2003, 12:46 PM  
  
' A Tortured past '  
  
Captain Rakurai Stryker - Corridor outside Sickbay  
  
He just lied to Demi and cursed at himself for it. He had several of the same symptoms, but not as severe anymore. Not as severe anymore as it was a few years ago. It simply dissipated.  
  
Since her arrival, four weeks ago, he was glad to once again to have to have her this close once again. Her behaviour was unchanged, except she felt out of place, with no function. She was sad at times, at other times angry at the whole situation, the destruction of the Exeter. But none of the symptoms that Demi mentioned, he thought.  
  
Lost in thought he ended up in his quarters, sitting on the living room sofa, staring at the reflective tabletop and asked himself more and more questions. She is lonely. But she did make a friend ....  
  
"Computer, locate Samantha ...." he paused, unable to remember the bubbly girl's last name. "Civilian, Samantha Mac."  
  
Samantha McIver. the computer corrected him. Deck nine, Room 235.  
  
Dot's Diner is closed until 0900.  
  
"Stryker to Samantha McIver. Please report to my ready room immediately."  
  
Message recorded. the computer responded. "She's asleep." he told himself, stating the obvious. With that done, he straightened his uniform and headed to the turbolift.  
  
He waited about thirty seconds, before the doors finally opened.  
  
"Bridge." he told the computer.  
targhviq  
  
Posted: Aug 2 2003, 12:13 PM  
  
"Popped Bubbles and the Mercies of Friends"  
Deck nine, Room 235 Samantha McIver's Quarters  
  
There was an odd sound intruding Sammie's dreams. One that did not have a place within the loverly scenario she was immersed in. One that she dearly did not want interrupted, and definately not mid-kiss with the one man she'd been recently so secretly smitten with.  
  
"Stryker to Samantha McIver. Please report to my ready room immediately." came the strident call once again. But to Sammy's dismay, from the mouth of that very delicious kiss she'd been having.  
  
"Wh.. wha? Tiko? Since when did you have a ready room...?" she mumbled in her sleep. With that statement, the call finally struck her from her dreams like a thunderbolt in the night. She sat straight up in bed,  
bleary eyed and blinking blindly in the dark in a tumble of confused thoughts and the remnants of her wonderful dream.  
  
"Captain Stryker? Oh! Captain Stryker! Oh my goodness... ah, I can't.  
see. Oh!" she stumbled out of the bed and tried to find the answer button on her comm display, "Ooww! OW!" she grumbled, as her toe errupted in a frenzy of fire, having connected with bottom of her console in a most painful position. She tried not to tear up, but lost the battle as her toe really began to hurt.  
  
"S-Samantha to Captain Stryker, on my way! Oww!" she stuttered in pain. And began trying to find her clothes in the dark, and without injuring her sensitive toes again.  
  
Sammy hopped around trying to get her legs into a pair of trousers, and to her irritation, a pair with a pernicious sense of humor. "RRRRrrr!  
Oh, come on, any other time I'de have these on is a split second!" She danced around trying to force herself into them, despite the socks obstructing both legs.  
  
"Finally!" she blurted in ire as her feet found the floor. As soon as she had scuffed on some flats and squirmed into a blouse, she dashed for her door dancing aside of the floor lamp by her table just at the last second.  
  
Sammy skidded to a stop at a nearby turbolift and waited for the slow thing to open it's doors for her. Once inside, she relaxed a little and waited, still feeling like she was asleep. "Oh.." she sighed "I guess I need to tell you where to go before I can actually get anywhere!" she said tartly at the turbolift.  
  
"Please state destination." the computer's voice reminded her without feeling.  
  
"Bridge, please.", and she felt the 'lift begin to move. Samantha leaned back against the side of the 'lift and folded her arms against herself. For some reason she felt a little cold. 'Probably from being woke up so fast.' she mused to herself.  
  
It was at this moment she looked down at herself and realised she had both her trousers and her blouse on inside out, and the trousers on backwards. Add to that, one of the previously obstructing socks was hanging out of the left leg of her trousers, neatly caught in the mouth of her flat.  
  
Sammy looked around at the 'lift and desperately debated switching her clothes around before she arrived on the Bridge. With a shrug, she began to de-clothe herself in a mad dash to beat the 'lift's progress to the Bridge.  
  
She was dancing on one foot, still trying to detangle her leg through her trousers as the 'lift doors opened upon the busy Bridge. She froze.  
Sammy colored bright red, unable to breathe as she watched fully clothed people busy at their posts. Suddenly, she shook herself,  
realising no one had yet noticed her. She sqeaked slightly as she forced her leg into her trousers completely, and began fumbling with the closures in the front.  
  
She was bitting the side of her lip in dire concentration as a voice she recognized interrupted her struggle with her trouser's closures.  
Her mouth fell open in a little 'o'.  
  
"Having a little trouble there Sammie?" Lt. Thomas Black Wolf looked down upon her with a slight smile curling his lips. She had forgotten he was working the first shift's Bridge duty today, third in command,  
with Commander Khetrha being elsewhere for the moment.  
  
"Oh!" she struggled for words as the closures finally allowed her to close them. "I-I'm alright, th-thanks... just here because Stryker.  
Captain Stryker called for me. In-in his ready r-room." She tried smiling up at him, but her face was a red as a supernova, and there was just nothing she could do but look up at the man of her dreams and try not to feel as embarrased as she was.  
  
Thomas stepped away from her and swept his hand in a gentlemanly fashion and as if to clear the way for her. She giggled when he took a little bow and looked up at her, "Well, this way m'lady. I'm sure the Captain is waiting for you."  
  
She clapsed her hands to her chin in delight and laughed, then elaborately curtsied for him. "Why thank you, m'lord!" She sung and suddenly hurried off towards the Captain's ready room.  
  
He watched her go with a smile on his face. She was one of the rarified few who really could make him smile. He stopped when he noticed something on the floor where she'd done her charming little curtsy. He stooped to pick up the sock and return it to her, but she had already disapeared into Captain Stryker's ready room.  
  
Thomas just smiled a wry grin as he shoved it into his pocket. 'Well now, a lady can't go without her sock.' he thought to himself, as he returned to the con and seated himself there.  
  
"Report mister!" he barked to the sleepy helmsman, taking slight pleasure in keeping his charges on their toes, even at this hour of the morning.  
Khetrha  
  
Posted: Aug 2 2003, 07:01 PM  
  
Khetrha - Stellar Cartography  
  
Acknowledged. I'm on my way to the bridge. Khetrha replied,  
even though she knew it would be a while before she was needed on the bridge.  
  
She turned to the officer nearest her who was plotting a course around the ion storm and feeding the coordinates to the helm officer. "Make sure you give us a wide enough berth between us and that ion storm. We don't want to take any chances. Do some long-range scans on the Ojibwa and send them up to the bridge. If you see any change in conditions,  
let me know."  
  
The officer paused long enough to nod, then went back to her work.  
  
Khetrha looked up at the ominous ion storm for a long moment, then whirled toward the door and marched out.  
  
She arrived on the bridge a few minutes later, nodding to Oleary as she walked around to the command area.  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Aug 3 2003, 08:16 AM  
  
" Hymn of Faith "  
  
Captain Rakurai Stryker - Standing in Ready Room door  
  
"Helm, ETA ?"  
  
"Twenty eight minutes sir. We can't get a clear scan of the Ojibwa yet." Lt. Drake reported.  
  
"Yellow alert." he said when Sammy nearly ran into him. "O sorry." both apologized.  
  
"Please come in." he said, noticing her bright red face that usually accompanies embarrassment.  
  
She stepped forward hesitantly, she never been on the bridge or the captain's ready room before. The air smelt salty, the temperature definitely a little higher than the normal settings. The background sounds were that of an ocean at high tide, plus the addition of some kind of music, more of a hymn actually.  
  
Stryker was unsure how on to proceed, other that direct her to the couch, asked her, "Anything you'd to like to drink ?"  
  
"Peach schnapps please."  
  
He returned a few seconds later with an alien drink she could not identify and her Peach schnapps. "Thank you." she said. He sat down on the seat next to the couch.  
  
Sammy looked at Stryker, who was gazing into his mug as if it held the answers. "Something happened to Alice last night ..." he started. "She was found semiconscious in the hallway outside our quarters. Doctor Kiya said she is nearly comatose, the cause is a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."  
  
"This is anything can I do ?" Sammy asked, tears starting to brim her eyes.  
  
"If its okay with the medical staff, I'd like you to spend a few hours with her. Talk to her. I will be doing the same when I am off-duty."  
  
She nodded. "Thank you." he said to Sammy.  
targhviq  
  
Posted: Aug 6 2003, 03:36 PM  
  
Samantha McIver - Captain's Ready Room  
  
Sammy considered Alice for a few moments, her thoughts momentarily lost. As well as her attention.  
  
"Miss McIvers. Are you alright?" Captain Stryker asked for the second time. But he found he couldn't be impatient with Sammy, Alice's condition was almost as big a blow to Sam as it was to him. He decided to walk closer to her.  
  
"Miss McIvers...?"  
  
"Oh! Oh, sorry Captain! I-I will surely look in on Alice. I am so worried about her! I'm sure Kiya will let me in there to spend time with her, I used to help my mother on Caldos IV in the hospital there.  
I could be of some help."  
  
"I'm sure Kiya will appreciate that, as do I. Miss McIver, please excuse me, but I must return to duty." He indicated the ready room doors by way of sweeping his arm towards it. Sammy understood instantly ans stepped past him. She was almost crying.  
  
Captain Stryker stood in the door and she passed out into the Bridge.  
Thomas Black Wolf noted her face and became slightly angry. Whether he wanted to ot not, he had gotten an instinctive protective nature towards Sammy, and he couldn't explain to himself why.  
  
"Sammy, what's wrong?" Thomas asked her as she tried to shy past him.  
  
"She stopped and stiffled her nose a little, "It's alright Thomas, I will talk to you later, I have to go." And she excused herself and was into the turbolift before he could respond.  
  
Thomas stared after her, the sock still in his pocket. He shook himself and cursed silently for his delayed reactions. Inwardly, he didnt know what had happened, but was not wanting to believe the Captain had anything to bawl her out over.  
  
Tiko ground his teeth trying to reason it all out logically. He knew his prtotective nature was running his emotions rampant. He turned and stood by his station, eyes sliding back and forth lost in contemplation.  
  
Tonight, I will find out what's eating her. And he crunched the little sock down in the bottom of his pocket with a hard fist of determination.  
  
Captain Stryker watched Tiko out of the corner of his eye. He knew Thomas had took the scenario all wrong. Time for that later. he reasoned cooly.  
  
"Lt. Black Wolf! Status." He said, a little louder than neccesary.  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Aug 6 2003, 05:35 PM  
  
' Back on a mission '  
  
Captain Rakurai Stryker - Standing in Ready Room door again :D  
  
"Lt. Black Wolf! Status." He said, a little louder than neccesary.  
  
"All stations reported in except Engine Room, sir." Thomas reported.  
  
"ETA to the Ojibwa ?"  
  
"Twenty three minutes sir. No visual yet." he said. The ship shook again, courtesy of Hellguard. "Starboard shields at 89 ,  
regenerating."  
  
As the turbolift doors opened, Sammy nearly collided with another woman. "Oh sorry." Sammy said, side-stepping the other woman and slipping into the turbolift just as the doors close.  
  
The woman was slender, in a red uniform.  
  
She walked to the captain. Standing at attention, "Cadet Sayaka Koyama,  
reporting for duty, sir." the Japanese woman said with pride.  
  
"Please come in." Stryker said.  
  
They sat down and she handed him a PADD, but he already knew its contents. Performance review: Excellent. One month of cadet cruise complete. Requested transfer from shuttlecraft pilot, to Conn.  
APPROVED. Signed, Commander Khetrha, Captain Rakurai Stryker. Stardate 61779.5  
  
Trial by fire indeed ... he thought with a hidden smile. Piloting a juggernaut through Hellguard's violent plasma storms.  
  
He mentioned her to follow him back to the bridge. The Andorian man at CONN reconized her, and stood up, relieved that his shift is over.  
  
Stryker made his way to the center seat.  
Rachnoa  
  
Posted: Aug 7 2003, 09:40 AM  
  
Sayaka Koyama - Bridge  
  
Sayaka looked around. The bridge was even bigger than she had expected.  
She looked at the screen, but then realized she had to go to her position.  
  
She walked up to CONN and took her seat. Sayaka'd really looked forward to this moment. She looked up the data and course. The woman lifted her right eyebrow when she saw the course that was laid out for the ship.  
This is going to be interesting for a first time, she though.  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Aug 8 2003, 03:41 PM  
  
' Anxiety '  
  
Captain Rakurai Stryker - Bridge, Sitting in the BIG chair  
  
The Pretoria slowly approached the USS Ojibwa, still no clear scans of the Nova class vessel. Cadet Sayaka Koyama was doing a marvelious job at dodging the plasma tornadoes and unpredictable strings, but the shields still got hit three times in the last ten minutes.  
  
He nervously gripped his armrests, eyes of the viewscreen for the first glimpse of the Ojibwa ....  
targhviq  
  
Posted: Aug 9 2003, 10:23 PM  
  
Waiting and Watching Sammy In Sickbay  
  
Samantha McIver sat with Alice, the poor woman still occasionally tossing her head and muttering on her biobed. It was a slight improvement, but not one that Kiya and the whole Medical Department was hoping to see. Not least of which was Sammy and Captain Stryker, who were heartbroken at Alice's condition.  
  
Sammy talked from time to time to Alice. Kiya and Demi had reassured her that though Alice was in a semi-comatose state, that the brain still functioned on a stiffled level, and a person could indeed understood the words spoken in their presence. Sammy only hoped they were right.  
  
"Alice... you do not know how badly we all miss you." Sammy fiddled with her fingers, not certain she was getting through, "Alice, please come back to us. I... I just feel so alone without you there to..." A tear stung at her eyes but she put on a brave face and a smile for Alice, though she couldn't see that awful, worried smile about to become a lament of tears.  
  
"Well, without you there to antagonise me and especially Sabaqwa, we feel kinda lost." Sammy chuckled a soft, muted giggle. Not the kind she was patently known for. It sounded so sad and alone in Alice's ears.  
  
Demi walked up to them and hugged Sammy. Which of course almost brought the poor girl fully to tears.  
  
"Sammy, sweetie, I brought you something to cheer you." She handed Sam a cup of hot cocoa, made the way Sammy prefered, with the tiny little Mourinian marshmallows floating on top. Their rich fragrance a perfect complement to the terran dutch cocoa she loved so much.  
  
Sam's eyes popped in delight. "Oh! I forgot all about we could make these here!" She looked up at Demi, a near-Sammy smile filling her face. "Thank you! I haven't had this in eons!" She gratefully took the cup and sipped the wonderful liquid. Demi couldn't help but smile,  
nothing filled her with delight more than pleasing Sammy, Kiya and the rest when things had gotten rough around the edges.  
  
"It's my pleasure Sam. I knew you liked it, and decided it was time for a treat, for me as well!" Demi grinned as she produced a cup for herself and sat beside Sam on a nearby chair.  
  
Sam looked at her with a quizical look, "But... how did you know I liked...?"  
  
Demi tapped her head at the side with a wide grin, "Personelle files are all up here, remember? Longterm Medical Holograms have their priveledges. It wasn't but a tic of my time accessing your presonal preferences and then it was just a little bit of Sherlock Holmes-work to track down this... mmmm! This wonderful cocoa!" Demi looked up after sipping her cocoa, a little cocoa moustach coating her top lip.  
  
Sammy giggled, she couldn't help herself. Demi with a cocoa moustache was just an image she never thought she would see. And too, the giggle was a little closer to Sammy's normal perky disposition.  
  
Demi smiled in satisfaction. 'well, that's one more worry I can place in the done-files. I actually got her to giggling some again.' Demi smiled and took another delightful sip.  
  
"Alright, time for a talk Sammy." Demi smiled mischeviously at her over her steaming cup of cocoa.  
  
"What? Did I do something wrong?" Sam asked in dismay, almost dropping her cocoa.  
  
Demi shook her head in the negative, her mouth still too full of hot cocoa to speak. She struggled to swallow it quickly, "No, no. Nothing like that!" She fanned her mouth, the cocoa nearly searing her, "This is girl-talk time is all I meant." The mischevious grin returned unrepentantly.  
  
Before Sammy could say 'Oh', Demi continued without a reprieve, "I hear on the ship's well-rooted grapevine that a certain tall Lieutenant in a certain gold uniform has caugh your eye, m'girl." Demi leaned closer,  
playfulness dancing in her eyes, "So tell me more, this is too good to just let the grapevine have it all. I want facts, so spill it!"  
  
Sammy's face was almost white. She worried whether she'd been all that transparent, whether she'd been too pushy. Or worse, what if people were thinking they were... Then the rapid-fire worry-train derailed itself in a pile of absurdities and Sammy began to laugh, as the thoughts hit home. And her funny bone.  
  
They both laughed for several minutes until the cocoa was almost forgotten. Almost, but not completely. They stopped and sipped together once the laughter softened.  
  
"Well" Sammy began with a pert expression on her face, "I guess it all got started the night....."  
  
All one could see from Sickbay's doors were two good friends gossiping and laughing over hot cocoa. All Kiya could see from her office was the kind of friendship she longed to have. A rapoire she was likely never to have again in her life with anyone.  
  
She watched them a while, allowing a small smile to creep across her face. But all too soon, the smile died to a sad, fallen look. All she could think of was Alice, and all the fun she longed for her to enjoy again. She cursed herself for failing her, and Rakurai.  
  
Kiya turned away. The dual pain of her own loneliness, and heartbreak for Alice was tearing her apart inside. She walked to her desk and sat down in the chair. She spun herself to face the wall and sighed. No point in anyone seeing the tears she couldn't stop... not ever again if she could help it. Kiya stooped over to the table behind her desk and took up the little cup of cocoa she'd nearly forgotten.  
  
She sipped the wonderful drink, but even the little Mourinian marshmallows tickling her lip couldn't cheer her up. Nothing probably would, for alot of reasons she tried to burry a little more with each sip.  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Aug 14 2003, 01:53 PM  
  
' First glimpse '  
  
Captain Rakurai Stryker - Main Bridge  
  
The Pretoria crept forward slowly when they found the lost starship.  
Caught in the wake on a plasma string was the Ojibwa. Its navigational deflector was powered down and the usual blue and red glow was missing from the warp and impulse engines.  
  
"Full sensor scan." Commander Khetrha demanded before Stryker could.  
  
"Its a real mess sir." Ensign Fox reported from OPS. "I am detecting a forcefield bubble around deck 1. The tempature on decks 2, 3, 4 and 5 is over 40 degrees Celcius. There appears to be a number of micro hull breaches on deck 6. Losing atmosphere and heat all the way down to deck 8. Unable to scan for lifesigns."  
  
"Main power is down. Auxiliary power is not going to last another 12 hours." Ensign Alva Rei told her superiors from tactical.  
  
"Khetrha, Mister Black Wolf, Xanatos, Rei, O'Leary, Cadet Sayaka.  
You're with me." Stryker said heading to the turbolift.  
  
"Doctor Black Wolf. Report to transporter room 2."  
  
[OOC]  
Here we go! Adventure time :D  
targhviq  
  
Posted: Aug 14 2003, 04:12 PM  
  
"Moments Away, Lifetimes Apart"  
The Bridge  
  
Thomas Black Wolf had been monitoring the search for the Ojibwa with rising adrenaline levels. He knew rescuing the Ojibwa's crew was going to be a scrape. And right now, so atypical for his style, he was breaking out in a sweat thinking how he hadn't finished saying, or even started saying the things he wanted to to a certain Samantha McIver.  
His mind kept replaying the image of her little face, all screwed up in the attempt not to cry infront of him.  
  
Inside he ached an odd little ache, one so far away and removed from his normal feelings. He fought to quell the emotions driving him deeper into his personal vortex. His hand went instinctively into his pocket and gripped Samantha's sock, still safely there for her.  
  
"Khetrha, Mister Black Wolf, Xanatos, Rei, O'Leary, Cadet Sayaka.  
You're with me." Captain Stryker said, jarring Tiko back to the Bridge and his stations. He blinked a moment as he oriented himself, barely saying "Aye" in time to keep the Captain from giving him a look of warning.  
  
Thomas coded off his station and walked towards the turbolift doors,  
right behind Rei and Cadet Sayaka Koyama, who turned and gave him a sumary nod of recognition. Behind Thomas, another crewman took his station and coded in for his watch. Thomas looked at the crewman and realised if Sam happened to return to the Bridge, she wouldn't have a clue where he was. Again... the funny little stir in the pit of his stomach.  
  
"Mister Black Wolf, are you reconsidering accompanying the away mission?" The author of the stern question was of course, Captain Stryker. And Tiko hadn't even realised he'd stopped in his tracks to look back.  
  
"No Sir, I am with you. I was mentally.. running down a list of checks,  
my appologies Captain." He gulped hoping the obvious fib wasn't so obvious. Commander Khetrha humphed an odd growl he'd never heard before and looked steadily at him. Thomas just kept her gaze, trying to appear innocent and all business as he stepped into the turbolift with the team.  
  
Captain Stryker and Khetrha exchanged brief looks, "Transporter room two." The Captain told the turbolift, as they broke their knowing gazes.  
  
As the turbolift slid into momentum, Thomas had an odd feeling about things, but he could not pin down exactly what was causing it. If his old friend Red Hawk was here, he'd have already been teasing him about loosing his mind over a 'girl'. A notion that one in the same made Tiko angry and smile with ire.  
  
'No buddy, you aren't here.' he thought silently. 'And this time, if I can help it, you nor anyone else will be messing up things for me, like you did the last time!' Tiko grinned a small cockeyed grin to himself,  
one that Commander Khetrha watched with great interest.  
  
A very small smile curled her lips as the turbolift came to halt and the doors opened. She may be a mighty female Mahki, the Second in Command of the Pretoria and her crew. But a female just the same. She knew all too well what had the Apache Security Officer by his tail this time. Secretly, she hoped his heart would not get in the way... too much depended on every one of them on this away team.  
  
"Lt. Black Wolf!" She growled in a low tone, meant only for him to hear. Tiko turned quickly to face her.  
  
"Yes Commander?" He inquired, his slight grin fading into concern.  
  
"Keep your head Lieutenant. Time for your heart later. I wish to speak no further with you on this, understand, Mister Black Wolf?" Her tone was gruff, but her face spoke a gentle concern for a comrade.  
  
"Aye Commander." His head slightly lowered, his venire of confidence stripped away before her like the path of the Crystaline Entity at it's worst. "I will do it no more, you have my word." And he looked up at her, all business, and all the glimmers gone from his eyes.  
  
He waited to be excused, which she did quickly. It was a mercy; she did not want the man to hurt so plainly infront of a commanding officer.  
Deep inside, she hoped she had not quelled his heart completely. She would never admit it, but she hoped every word of the ship's dependable grapevine were true, and this romance would spring forth like a vigorous vine in the dry desert.  
  
"Commander?" Captain Stryker looked over at her, concern in his eys.  
"Are we ready?"  
  
"Ready Captain, let's go!" she rumbled deeply, and strode onto the transporter pad.  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Aug 19 2003, 09:32 AM  
  
' The calm before the storm '  
  
Captain Rakurai Stryker - Transporter room 2  
  
He looked around as everyone started filing into the transporter room.  
Its transporter padd itself was unusual; purple, blue and green lines ran beneath its glass surface. Obviously non-Starfleet technology,  
Edenian in fact.  
  
After receiving the latest update from the bridge regarding the status of the Ojibwa, Rakurai was already planning ahead. When Doctor Kiya arrived, he started handing out orders.  
  
"Team One, Lt. Thomas Black Wolf, Ensigns Fox and Alva. You will be led by Commander Khetrha. We will be beaming you to deck four. Make your way to deck one. Secure the bridge if possible. Its surrounded by a type eight forcefield, I am assuming that survivors locked themselves in. Its hot, and foggy, about 40 degrees Celcius. And arm yourself,  
something feels wrong about the whole thing."  
  
"Team two, Commander O'Leary, Doctor Kiya Black Wolf, I will lead team two. We will beam up deck six, our mission is to secure sickbay, and check for survivors. The bridge has detected several minor hull breaches and forcefields are not responding. We'd need to suit up in EV suits and gravity boots."  
  
"Any questions ?"  
targhviq  
  
Posted: Aug 20 2003, 04:18 PM  
  
"Into The Fire"  
  
Lt. Commander Kiya Black Wolf strode into the transporter room.  
Something told her things weren't right with this whole mission, but she was unable to pin it down. Lately, her dreams, which she rarely remembered, were livid with images and people she did not know. It was very disturbing to her. But she also knew the images were something to pay close attention to. That is what her shaman had always taught her when she still lived on the Apache Reservation on earth.  
  
She sighed in reminiscneces, Arizona was a long way off right now. And no matter what she did to try and rememdy her feelings, this mission had a forboding feel to it. Even memories of earth and her favorite places in Arizona did little to help her.  
  
Captain Stryker was giving out everyone's orders. She listened carefully, but found that her eyes were being drawn to her brother, Lt.  
Thomas Black Wolf. Obviously, something was troubling him too. Kiya wished she could go talk with Tiko and find out for sure what had him sweating bullets like this, right before a mission. A very atypical condition for him.  
  
The Captain asked if there were any questions. Kiya shook her head 'no'  
and began to pull on her EV suit and gravity boots. All the while keeping little brother in the corner of her gaze. She smirked slightly,  
he must have realised she was watching him like a hawk; he went out of his way to keep them from meeting gazes.  
  
'Whatever it is Tiko, it's got you by the throat for you to avoid me like this.'  
  
But the smirk was more ire than humor. He was already mentally distracted, and she knew that would not help them over on the Ojibwa.  
  
She shrugged on the last of her gear and went to stand at the ready for transport. Thomas still would not look her way, he kept his gaze straight ahead of him and fixed. She looked over at the Captain and nodded once to signal her ready. He nodded back.  
  
Kiya sucked in a long good breath, not at all pleased with the tinny taste the recirculated EV suit's air provided.  
  
"This is going to be fun." she finally said, just barely audible.  
Thomas finally looked around at her a little shocked, apparantly he was just now realising she was there. Kiya just grinned and waved back at him and absorbed the lost look on his face.  
  
'Well, now we see what we will see...' she thought silently.  
Khetrha  
  
Posted: Aug 21 2003, 10:51 PM  
  
Transporter Room Two  
  
Khetrha slowly made her way to the transporter pad, noting the "space cadet" gaze of Lieutenant Black Wolf. I wonder if I'll ever know love like that, she thought. Then she shook her head. Now was not the time to reminisce. Khetrha hoped Black Wolf would realize the same.  
  
She looked at the other team as they donned their EV suits and inwardly sighed with relief. She was grateful Stryker had assigned her to the first team - she didn't want to look at her EV suit again for at least a few weeks. The dumb things were so bulky and uncomfortable. Besides,  
they made her squeamish.  
  
Stryker spoke: "Team One, Lt. Thomas Black Wolf, Ensigns Fox and Alva.  
You will be led by Commander Khetrha. We will be beaming you to deck four. Make your way to deck one. Secure the bridge if possible. Its surrounded by a type eight forcefield, I am assuming that survivors locked themselves in. Its hot, and foggy, about 40 degrees Celcius."  
  
Khetrha grinned wryly. "Forty degrees, eh? Sounds lovely. Except for the fog, of course."  
  
"And arm yourself, something feels wrong about the whole thing."  
  
She continued to grin. "You act as if finding a ship in the middle of a place like this is an everyday occurance. Heh, if we didn't feel insecure about this, then I'd be worried." She stepped up on the platform, her blade out and ready, just like the hundreds of other transports she'd done in the past few years. I hope someday I'll be able to do this surrounded by fellow Mahki, she thought wistfully.  
  
She shook her head again. Not now.  
  
"No questions, sir," she answered. Then Kiya made a barely-audible comment, to which Khetrha winked. Suddenly, she tensed as the image of Kiya faded in the familiar twinkle of a transporter column.  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Aug 25 2003, 04:22 PM  
  
" Don't be afraid "  
  
Rakurai Stryker - Dematerializing from Transporter Room Two  
  
Onboard the Ojibwa, a circular, green semi-transparent forcefield snapped into place on deck six. On the ground, three small columns of cyan light appeared and rose upwards as Commander Michael O'Leary,  
Doctor Kiya Black Wolf, and Captain Rakurai Stryker appeared.  
  
Kiya was scanning with area with her tricorder scanning while Rakurai and Michael each held a phaser rifle. They stared into the dim light around them. They ears were met by eerie silence. Unconsciously he held his breath. Some welcome, eh. No one's even here to greet us.  
  
A chill ran down his spine. Where did that thought come from, Alice .... ? he thought. Impossible , he told himself.  
  
After nine seconds of tense silence, and the reassurance that nothing was found within scanning range, he tapped his combadge. "Remove forcefield."  
  
"Aye sir." come the reply from the Pretoria's transporter chief. The three officers started to walk forward, unknownst to what awaits them onboard the derelict starship.  
  
[OOC]  
Editted this post becuase Sayaka left the group  
targhviq  
  
Posted: Aug 31 2003, 08:33 AM  
  
"Silence Reigns"  
Deck 6 near Sickbay on the Ojibwa  
  
Kiya began scanning, slightly tense but fighting the feeling. Something still felt wrong, very wrong. And she looked around cautiously while keeping her eyes sharp for readings on her tricorder.  
  
"Nothing Captain, the immediate area is clear, according to readings.  
We are the only lifesigns coming up on scans."  
  
Despite the absence of any other living thing, Kiya could not shake the feeling of being watched. Her first thought was of the Galangel and how it had tracked them like a silent panther. She grinned and thought to herself, 'if only all our enemies were so easily dispatched, so easily obvious. nothing about this is right enough for me to relax... just yet.'  
  
The EV suit was itching, her hair was damp from sweat in the confining headgear, and the smell of tinified air made her almost nauseated. Kiya took a deep, diaphragm-expanding breath, she was glad she had taken an anti-nausea medication prior of transporting. To help nothing, her stomach grumbled audibly. Kiya had forgotten to eat this morning, her dreams had disturbed her too much to settle into her regular morning routines. O'Leary cocked his head at her and grinned, apparantly the stomach growl was a little more audible than she thought.  
  
"What? You ate no smeggin' misbehaving ensigns or cadets for breakfast as usual this morning, Medicine Wolf?", he whispered to her.  
  
Kiya looked over at him and gave him a quelling look, which only made him grin all the more. She grinned and whispered back, "No, but I could make an exception for a certain rifle-toting Irishman if he doesn't cut the comedy." She smiled sweetly at him, still giving him the quelling look. Her stomach was the frosting on the cake for a miserable morning and a hunger-inspired bad mood.  
  
They both snapped back to business as Captain Stryker called for readings and status. The Edenian Captain had surprising hearing at certain inoportune moments. And an even sharper sense of impatience,  
especially when someone lapsed into levity at other inoportune moments.  
  
Kiya rechecked her tricorder, still showing nothing. "All clear so far Captain. No readings. Sickbay is up ahead, about 30 feet. I'm getting no readings from within Sickbay or any of the labs, but there may be other considerations. There are a number of hull breaches within Sickbay's ICU area coming up, and one larger one just down this corridor."  
  
The slight debris in the immediate area attested to depressurization.  
She looked down and saw scattered hypos, empty vials broken laying about and several small pieces of litter, all of it from Sickbay. She crouched down to pick up some of it to look more closely. The EV suit promptly nipped her in the ribs, making her hiss, she grunted, 'you'de think they'de design these things for flexible use, especially if flexible people are supposed to be using them.' She dug at the cutting folds of material and pinched up a broken hypo, it's contents emptied to the vacuum.  
  
"Captain." She looked up to catch his eye, "This came from Sickbay, as most of this debris did. I'de guess Sickbay's doors were open when depressurization emptied this corridor. Sickbay would never be in such a condition of disorder, these things must have been pulled out here when the depressurization hit."  
  
She carefully put the hypo back down and stood. "Sickbay probably isn't any better. I advise caution upon entering Sickbay, Captain. Alot of medications and substances are housed there that are lethal if exposed to certain tissues. Some will errode manmade materials if exposed to air and light, even if that exposure was for a small amount of time during an accident. Judging from this debris out here, it stands to reason Sickbay is far worse."  
  
She looked expectantly at Sickbay's doors, she was grateful medicines and certain compounds were rarely toxic to humans, but certain combinations could kill Edenians without the protection of an EV suit or any other type of hazard suit.  
  
"Take utmost care Captain." she said simply, hoping her words held more than their face values. She hoped that there was nothing coming up that could possibly tear or puncture an EV suit, leading to possible exposure to harmful substances and compounds. She knew better, but she hoped just the same.  
  
Captain Stryker turned to look at her with a long, considering look,  
his yellow eyes piercing her with questions.  
  
targhviq  
  
Posted: Sep 1 2003, 02:06 PM  
  
"Tense Entrances"  
Deck 4 on the Ojibwa  
  
"Team One, Lt. Thomas Black Wolf, Ensigns Fox and Alva. You will be led by Commander Khetrha. We will be beaming you to deck four. Make your way to deck one. Secure the bridge if possible. Its surrounded by a type eight forcefield, I am assuming that survivors locked themselves in. Its hot, and foggy, about 40 degrees Celcius. And arm yourself,  
something feels wrong about the whole thing."  
  
Lt. Thomas "Tiko" Black Wolf barely had time to assimilate the Captain's words before it was time to get on the transporter pad ond head on over to the Ojibwa. He was still reeling from not having noticed his sister, CMO Black Wolf, before she too disapeared in the glimmers of transportation. He had the impulse to smile, 'god, she looked uncomfortable in her EV suit, thank God my team doesn't have to wear them.' He chuckled quietly.  
  
Thomas armed himself as ordered, choosing a pulse rifle for good looks and the feeling of security it gave him. He started to walk away and decided to grab one more ordinance for the trip; his favorite phaser,  
from the arms locker. Thomas hefted it a second, tossing it into his hand making sure his hand had the grips the right way. 'sweet!' He thought to himself in satisfaction, and he holstered it with a small smile.  
  
Thomas took a step onto the transporter pad, spinning on one foot to face the front, everything on the ready for anything they might encounter. He grinned knowing his best blade was right where he could get to it as well. Nothing like Apache ways to make a man feel armed right, battle-trained and ready.  
  
The transporter effect swirled them out of existance aboard the Pretoria in it's odd Edenian wave patterns, the beauty of them lost on him as he concentrated in his field of view during the transport.  
Nothing was worse than unwelcome surprises before one could fully rematerialize anywhere.  
  
As expected, the Ojibwa's air was hot, foggy and just like a bad dream he'd had a night or two before. One that even Sherlock Holmes could appreciate, if he were alive and kicking in the 24th century.  
  
Thomas walked foreward taking point, while the others took their turns at it, allowing him time to look things over from behind them. He had not been able to shake the feeling things were about to get bad.  
Nothing felt right about a derelict ship, but this one was different,  
somehow.  
  
He took a deep sigh and forced himself not to think about the one person on all of the Pretoria that made him feel like living again. He assured himself, if he did return from this away mission, that girl was due one good, long kiss. No matter who was looking or how much she seemed to protest. One way or the other, since all his words had failed him lately, Sammy McIver was going to find out how much she totally disrupted his heart and life, and made him reach for the things he never thought he could have in life. Acceptance and true love. Her acceptance, her love.  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Sep 1 2003, 07:52 PM  
  
' Inflexible Determination '  
  
AWAYTEAM TWO Captain Rakurai Stryker - Deck 6 of the Ojibwa  
  
He was taken back by Kiya's words. Honestly he does not know her well yet, after a few seconds he thought it was strong concern. He made a mental note of it, then nodded at her, as he returned his attention to the mission at hand.  
  
But there was something else gnawing at him. In case of a massive,  
critical failure/s, certain sections of all Starfleet vessels are shielded by extra layers of Duranium and Tritanium, Sickbay being one of them. Hence it was the most logical place to look for survivors. The plan was then go secure the engine room if possible.  
  
And so far there wasn't a single body seen yet, not even blood, only various pieces of debris, hanging motionless in mid-air in the absence of gravity. Nine meters to sickbay, he thought, looking ahead, but its doors was closed.  
  
What caused this kind of damage ?  
  
[OOC]  
Khetrha and O'Learys turn GO Linus, sorry for the wait  
Linus  
  
Posted: Sep 9 2003, 09:38 AM  
  
Encounter  
  
Sickbay corridor. Life forms detected. Absorb. Multiply. Survive.  
Using a muscle lining that granted its ability for rapid and stealthy movement, the parasitic Has'kini lifeform edged towards the doors,  
ready to strike at whomever entered its province.  
It alerted its other appendages to the presence of the aliens.  
Seek unoccupied areas of the ship. There may be others. Aborb.  
Mulitply. Survive.  
They obeyed, seeking out others, unaffected by the unusal environmental conditions that were affecting the ship. One of the appendages spotted something.  
Additional lifeforms detected. 2000 metres. We will absorb Both parts of the body waited for their prey to move in.  
Absorb. Multiply. Survive.  
  
AIM MSN !!  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Sep 16 2003, 01:52 PM  
  
' First awayteam mission '  
  
AWAY TEAM ONE Ensign Fox Xanatos - Deck Four  
  
He shallowed hard. The young ensign was nervous. The air was really warm and humid, plus a foggy mist created a spooky atmosphere.  
  
Lt. Thomas Black Wolf walked slowly and carefully, walking two meters from the rest of the team when he paused in front of a closed door.  
  
Fox scanned the area twice with his tricorder, "I don't detect anything ma'am" he reported to the huge Mahri first officer. Alva and Fox awaited further instuctions.  
Koval  
  
Posted: Sep 21 2003, 02:03 PM  
  
Felix looked around Engineering, he was bored, there was nothing he could do from here, he tapped his badge and said" =/= Savali to Bridge =/=" The Captain came over the comm line"  
  
=/= Bridge here go ahead =/=" Savali breathed in quietly and spoke "=/= Captain, I was wondering if I could join the away team =/="  
  
He waited awhile and then heard the captain say " =/= Granted, as Commander O'Leary isn't feeling well, get down to Transporter room 1 and join Away Team Number one, and take 3 Officers with you =/="  
  
Felix Smiled " =/= Aye Sir, Savali out =/=" He turned to look around " Henderson, Watson, Wiro, Jackson, Report to transporter room 1 for away team duty, on the double"  
  
He watched them go over to a small cabint and pulled out a Phaser each and they each took a Engineering Tricordor. Felix looked down and saw his Phaser and his Tricorder. They followed him over to the turbolift and they rode down to Transporter room 1. They entered and saw a few other people there. He wondered what everyone was waiting for. He looked around and just turned to his Team and gave them there orders.  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Sep 21 2003, 02:21 PM  
  
' Mind reader '  
  
AWAYTEAM ONE Ensign Alva Rei - Deck 4, section 9  
  
It was really hot and the fog was thick, visibility was down to barely two meters. She felt sweat starting to form on her forehead. O man, I am so going to stink after this, she thought.  
  
While Commander O'Leary and Ensign Fox was waiting for orders from Commander Khetrha, she felt something different, sickness. Commander Michael O'Leary was feeling ill, but refused to mention it to anyone.  
Alva gently touched his arm, "Sir, you are not well."  
  
He hesisted, then sighed. "You are right." he admitted. "Permission to return to the Pretoria, ma'am ?"  
  
"Very well." the eight foot tall Mahri woman said, tapping her combadge. "Khetrha to Lieutenant John Beckett. Report to transporter room one immediately. Join awayteam one."  
  
[OFF]  
Bring Henderson, Watson, Wiro, Jackson along  
Koval  
  
Posted: Sep 22 2003, 05:23 AM  
  
Lieutenant Savali and his team quickly got onto the transporter and beamed off, there molocues rearanging and then suddnely going back to place on the Ojibwa and they pulled out there tricorders, they picked up more people transporting over with 8 Security Officers.  
  
The Security Officers looked at Savali, "We have been order to escort You, Sir" Savali nodded and then nodded to his team" Move on as planned......"  
  
He lookd at Jackson and another Ensign of his team" Go down to Main Engineering, I want the whole Computer core transfered to the Pretoria,  
contact me when you have finished, Move out" He watched them run down the corridor with 3 Marines in hot pursuit.  
DominicDrake  
  
Posted: Sep 22 2003, 07:59 PM  
  
Lieutenant Dominic Drake - Bridge  
  
Drake checked his sensors an saw a little glip. He looked adn rechecked his sensors and saw another one and then it quickly disappeared. He opened the Comm to the captain. "Pretoria to the captain."  
  
[OFF]  
Sorry first time. I hope I did all right!  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Sep 22 2003, 08:08 PM  
  
' Premonition '  
  
AWAYTEAM TWO (Stryker and Kiya Black Wolf)  
Captain Rakurai Stryker - Deck 6 of the Ojibwa  
  
He was getting very nervous, something was wrong. His phaser rifle was in his hands, ready for danger. Doctor Kiya Black Wolf walked behind him.  
  
But, unknownst to the away teams nor the Pretoria, communications has been blocked.  
DominicDrake  
  
Posted: Sep 23 2003, 10:48 AM  
  
' Blind and Deaf '  
  
Lt. Dominic Drake - Main Bridge, USS Pretoria  
  
He looked back down at his sensors and saw no ships no anything. His sensors were beign blocked! What the hell is going on?  
  
He than ran a diagnostic, following procedures, for once. "Computer initiate red alert" As soon as the computer heard the command it responded with a "phttttttttttttttb".  
  
Drake just looked at the ceiling at the control panel. "You stupid machine!" He then entered the code red into the ships warning system. He saw the red flashes and thought, FINALLY! / Ensign Drake to any commanding officer.  
Please report to the bridge./ HE then heard a beep at his console. HE went over to check it. The diagnostic was completed.  
  
They had no sensors, not even passive.  
  
They were blind and deaf.  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Sep 23 2003, 02:05 PM  
  
' Terror '  
  
AWAYTEAM ONE Ensign Alva Rei  
  
Surrounded by phaser rifle trotting security guards, Fox Xanatos pressed a button on a keypad to open the doors to another corridor, and ultimately to the turbolift.  
  
The three guards suddenly froze. Something was moving in the fog.  
  
A short human woman, apparently of North European descent walked towards Fox.  
Her entire body was covered by what appeared a strange layer of skin,  
almost transparent, like a jellyfish. What grabbed his attention were her eyes. They were blank, jetblack, with no pupils at all. At her feet, the carpet seemed to be moving, her eight siblings.  
  
'She' was obviously capable of telepathy, and a strong one at that. Fox thought a battle in his mind, but being human, he did not know how to fight. It lured Fox closer to the woman while the others enveloped Crewmen Henderson and Watson.  
  
Khetrha was cluching her head, as if trying to break free of a huge hand holding her down, cursing, " No! Don't, don't come into me! Get out of my mind! It's invading my mind! NO "  
  
Fox cried in agony as the thing wrapped itself around him. Alva somehow freed herself from the trance and rushed forward, Khetrha tried to stop her though, Alva shot her in response. Fox screamed, "Help me Imzadi,  
Help me."  
  
Alva ran towards the creatures, her phaser firing continuously.  
DominicDrake  
  
Posted: Sep 23 2003, 11:12 PM  
  
Main Bridge  
  
Lt. Dominic Drake's Log: It has been a few hours since we've lost all sensors and communications. I have finally stabilized the computer's voice module and am rrently trying to restore communications. As for the crew, well, I have no idea. God help me.  
END LOG  
  
Drake sat at the Captain's chair slouched in it pondering on what to do. "Ops sation! Go down to the Engineering room and get the chief or whoever is on duty and get them up here. Also get the Doctor and head of all major Departments. Tell them to meet me in the Observation lounge Immediately."  
  
They agreed and went off to do the task. Mental note. Communications is the key priority. Second Sensors. No wait! Sensors then communications.  
  
OBSERVATION LOUNGE  
  
All of the representatives were there from the Deptartments. "Okay since I'm the Commanding officer on the bridge, I'm in charge. We need to get a priority on sensors. I don't care how but get them back online. Second we need communications back online! We need to get a hold of the captain and let him know about this mess. I want all available personnel working around the clock. Are we all in agreement?"  
  
He looked at everyone in the room. He could feel all of their distress.  
It was overwhelming to him since he himself was the same way.  
"Dismissed"  
  
Drake stepped out onto the bridge. He felt alive. He had never had the chance to command a starship. Well, one that wasn't torn to bits. But,  
he had to refocus to now. People could be hurt and he couldn't risk sending over a shuttle for something could contaminate them. Just as he finished his thought an alarm went off. He looked over at the captains arm computer. NOT GOOD!  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Sep 29 2003, 10:13 AM  
  
' Trapped '  
  
AWAYTEAM TWO - Onboard the Ojibwa Captain Rakurai Stryker - Somewhere on deck 7  
  
Three hours ago, Stryker and Kiya was attacked by a creature of some kind, which looked exactly like the ship's commanding officer. Unable to contact anyone else, and Kiya wounded, they fled down a Jeffries's tube and into a room dedicated to ICU patients.  
  
He tried to see to Kiya's injuries, but his medical knowledge was rudimentary to say the least. By now, she was asleep when he finally turned his attention to the other two beds in the room.  
  
Stryker sat and watched the muscles on the man's lined face twitch and spasm as his nerves tested themselves for life after the long, cold sleep.  
  
He recognized the two bridge officers. The first one was human, the Chief Engineer, Commander Tidus Patterson. He was tall, about 6'4", and had thin grey hair. His body was taut and wiry. His face was face lined deeply. Not bad for an 88 year old.  
  
In the next bed was the Chief of Operations and Chief Science Officer,  
Lt. Alinae, a Betazoid-Vulcan hydrid who looked somewhere between thirty and thirtyfive. She was far shorter than Tidus, but still somewhere just above average height. She was plain and unremarkable,  
with long, straight, but otherwise nondescript dark brown hair.  
  
He needed answers, but it seemed unlikely that these two could provide it.  
  
Escape seemed impossible, as they were trapped by forcefields to keep the creatures that attacked them, out. The computer was locked out, as was transporters.  
  
Is this how it ends ? , he thought.  
DominicDrake  
  
Posted: Oct 2 2003, 06:05 PM  
  
Hero of the Stars Well, thank God that was just the sensors coming online! "Ops! Scan the ship for all humanoid life forms." The technitian did as he was told.  
"Found them all sir." "Do we have communications?" "Not yet." "Relay a message to the Transporter room. Tell them to do an emergency beam out.." "Sir! There appears to be a hostile life form appraoching the captain!" "Distance." "A few feet!" Drake ran over to the Ops console and punched up the Transporter controls.  
"Hang on captain!" Drake punched in the code 14 for the transporter and locked onto the monster. "See ya later.", he said as he hit the button.  
The monster demat. While exploding to bits on the ship.  
"Sensors indicate the life form is gone, sir." "Good." He then locked onto the humanoids and did an emergency beam out on them and sent them to the Sickbay. Thank God for small miracles.  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Oct 6 2003, 11:09 AM  
  
Captain's Log, Stardate 61781.9: We located the Ojibwa, and investigated a number of abnormal sensor readings.  
  
Onboard, we found that the creatures are capable of mimicing lifeforms it absorbed. The awayteams were attack by these ... gelatinous parasites. Ensigns Alva and Fox was killed.  
  
Lt. Drake's theory is apoptosis, the parasites invade and rapidly reproduce killing the host from the inside. The parasite's DNA will be the same as the host, no scan can tell them apart from the real thing.  
  
Lt. Thomas Black Wolf is in cryo-statis, infected by the parasites. But I fear its too late for him. This damn mission is nothing but a huge disaster.  
  
Prior to destroying the Ojibwa, we beamed two of the parasites onboard the Pretoria, but it remains in transporter suspension until we reach starbase.  
  
On a lighter note I suppose, Nurse Simmons was injured when he tried to use a hypospray on Commander Khetrha.  
Birds of Prey  
  
Posted: Oct 6 2003, 11:13 AM  
  
0533 hours  
  
' Groggy '  
  
The smell elusive, yet maddeningly familiar. Something about the combination of smell and sounds ....  
  
Sickbay! Alice thought with triumph. She sat up and allowed her eyes to focus on her surroundings. To her left, Sammy was asleep on a biobed,  
as was Stryker on thr biobed to her right. Otherwise sickbay was empty,  
expect for a figure in the office.  
  
She opened the bed cover and swung her legs to get off the biobed, and put both feet flat on the floor, when a strange feeling surged through her. The tears that filled her eyes were undoubtedly due to the heightened emotional state that accompanies a fever, which also a surge of feeling that seemed to come out of nowhere. Alice felt lost and confused. But she slowly walked towards the circular office.  
  
When she entered the room, Alice saw Kiya sleeping on the couch. Her legs suddenly left weak, and she kneeled immediatly in an attempt not to fall over. When most of the spinning in her head stopped, Alice started tucking at Kiya's leg. "Gramma ?" Kiya asked, the sedative making waking up more difficult.  
  
Impossible, she is on Earth, the Chief Medical Officer thought. Kiya opened her eyes and reacted with shock seeing Alice in front of her.  
  
"Ya ta say Healer." Alice said again, smiling. Kiya Black Wolf stared at her for about ten seconds, "Can you speak Apache without a translator ?"  
  
"Yes."  
"How ?"  
  
"My mother said I loved learning lauguages. I had two Aboriginal friends growing up, Gretha had an Apache parent."  
  
Kiya slowly got up returned with two 8oz. coffees, handling one to Alice. "What else can you speak ?"  
  
"Romaji, Kanji, Iroquois, Romulan Standard and Modern Edeni."  
  
"Why do you know Romulan ?" Kiya asked.  
  
"It's so ... lyrical. Like Romaji, it makes me feel like I am singing."  
  
"Let's get you get to a bio-bed, I want to run a few scans. And we have to talk." Kiya said seriously, heading towards Stryker to wake him up.  
  
One hour later.  
"You can go to your quarters. But if I don't see you in here at 0900 hours everyday, I will beam you here directly." Kiya mock-warned her patient.  
  
They were about to leave then Kiya turned to Stryker, "While you are in here, I'd like to run a few quick tests on you Captain. Your blood work is almost identical to Alice's. It might happen to you too."  
  
"NO." Stryker firmly said, much loudly than he meant to. He changed his tone, "Please doctor. Not now."  
  
He could tell Kiya wanted to argue more. She'd win a battle for wits and glares with him, but Rakurai's mind was made up, and it wouldn't be changed. But he valued Kiya's intentions. He looked at her in the eye,  
then left sickbay, Alice half-hanging onto him, not for a physical reason, she just felt she needed it.  
  
As they exited sickbay, Demi rematrialized next to Kiya. "Damn we had him, and you let him get away."  
  
Kiya says "He promised me he'll be back."  
  
"Huh ?" was Demi brilliant response.  
  
Alice and Stryker's Quarters  
  
Alice and Stryker entered their quarters. "Computer, lock door. We are not to be disturbed."  
  
The computer beeped to acknowledge. Alice sat down on the large sofa in the 'living' room. Stryker removed the top of his uniform and threw it aside before joining Alice on the sofa.  
  
"When is the last time you saw your parents ?" he asked.  
"Three years ago."  
"Maybe now is a good time to see them again."  
  
"They insisted I do that, but I told them I was fine."  
"Stubborn, aren't we ?" he quipped.  
Alice narrowed her eyes playfully and elbowed him in the ribs. "Look who's talking."  
  
After his laughter stopped, she turned to him, "Talking about family.  
When is the last time you saw you family ?"  
"Six years ago." he said, remembering something. "This arrived a few days ago," Stryker mentioned, reaching to pick up an object from the coffee table.  
  
She could tell it an alien technology of some kind. "What is it ?"  
  
"A fluid-crystal holoviewer. The very latest technology. Look." He held the viewer between them, and touched its metal base. Nothing happened.  
Stryker frowned at the thing as he would at a promising but lazy student, more in disappointment than in anger. Then he moves his finger a little to the left, and a tableau appears in midair.  
  
A large garden - a beautiful setting for what is clearly a family portrait. Four adults stand in a more or less orderly row. A dark haired woman, Suelo, who stands tall and gravely dignified at one end of the row. A man, stooped and elderly Nekise, whose wrinkled face is split in a wide grin, his arm linked around Suelo. A laughing blue-haired woman--Laenia. And next to her is Eiko, smiling the creeky smile Alice would always remember, her head tilted a little, as if she's about to ask a question.  
  
"That's nice." Alice said, feeling sleepy. She snuggled up to him, her head on his shoulder, left hand playing along his chest. It made her smile, "I love it when you do that."  
  
"What ?" he asked, confused.  
"Your heart beating faster, " she said, demonstrating again, " ... when I do this."  
  
He hugged her, "Alice, beloved. Alive and whole and in my arms."  
  
She sat up and curled up with Stryker against the side of the sofa.  
"Guardian to the end, aren't you ?" she said in a sleepy voice. Shortly later both fell asleep in this position.  
  
Meanwhile .  
Lt. Drake's quarters  
  
He tossed and turned all night, unable to see descent sleep. He could not explain it, but it felt like he's being watched, not to mention,  
something smells strange, out of place.  
  
FIN. 


End file.
